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Measuring 65.0 x 54.0 cm, the painting depicts the bust of Gala composed of a matrix of spheres seemingly suspended in space. It represents a synthesis of Renaissance art and atomic theory and illustrates the ultimate discontinuity of matter,[1] the spheres themselves representing atomic particles.[2]

Dalí had been greatly interested in nuclear physics since the firstatomic bomb explosions of August 1945, and described the atom as his "favourite food for thought". Recognising that matter was made up of atoms which did not touch each other, he sought to replicate this in his art at the time, with items suspended and not contacting each other, such as in The Madonna of Port Lligat.[3] This painting was also symbolic of his attempt to reconcile his renewed faith in Catholicism with nuclear physics.[2] His friend, painter Antoni Pitxot, recalled that Dalí held in high regard the depth of perspective in the painting and the spheres he had painted.[1]